No Braille textbooks for sightless college students in Odisha

Odisha, February 11: Absence of Braille textbooks have forced sightless college students in Odisha to depend on either audio tapes or reading assistants.

"We are facing much difficulty to prepare for examinations due to lack of Braille books. Quite often, we are unable to pick up what reading assistants dictate to us," said Krushna Chandra Moharana, a second year student of Khallikote Autonomous College here.

The problem is plaguing round 200 blind students studying in various colleges of the state, Bijay Kumar Rath of Odisha Blind Society said today. The state has only one Braille press here.

Printing Braille books for college students is difficult as syllabi are different for universities, Manager of Louise Braille Press Prakash Narayan Rath said. "We will try to produce textbooks for college students from next year as the government has decided to make syllabus uniform for universities," he added.

PTI